Upbeat India get to work, but hosts are my favourites

By Rahul Banerji

Seven days to go and Team India are at work in London. Virat Kohli’s men, who flew out on Tuesday hit the nets at The Oval and will be hoping to make good on their captain’s optimism ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

“Playing really good cricket has been our focus and hence the results,” Kohli said before flying out on what will be his most important assignment as team leader.

“All the World Cup-bound players were in great form during the IPL and we expect ourselves to play the best cricket we can. The emphasis will be on the process.”

Added team coach Ravi Shastri, vastly experienced himself and who has struck a successful combination with Kohli, “Our team has played great cricket for the past five years. We need to enjoy the tournament. If we play to our potential then the Cup can be ours.”

England the benchmark

While there is no doubt that India have done well in the ODI format of late, my guess is England will be setting the benchmark at this tournament.

Perennial bridesmaids at the World Cup, the hosts have evolved into a formidable force under Eoin Morgan and go into the tournament as the red-hot favourites. Since 2017, they are yet to lose a 50-overs series and their last defeat came at India’s hands in 2017 in an away series.

Since then, England have won in Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka besides beating all comers at home. And with the inclusion of Jofra Archer, the Barbados-born speedster and recently spearhead of Rajasthan Royals, Morgan and Co. have added yet more firepower to their arsenal.

Yet as five-time World Cupper and thrice winner Ricky Ponting pointed out the other day, “Tournament play is a different thing, it’s not just another five-game series or three-game series. This is all about a pretty long tournament of one-day cricket.

“You’ve got to find a way to build your way into the tournament and make sure you’re playing your best cricket at the back alley.”

Pressure, pressure, pressure

And the best cricket in Ponting’s metaphorical back alley will have to come from Day One of the event that will see the world’s 10 top-ranked teams in action over the next month and a half, a period likely to be dominated by a pack of big hitters who will put every bowling attack under the hammer.

Kohli felt India were on the right track at his pre-departure press conference. “Handling pressure is more important than the conditions. The key is to not let the fitness levels come down.”

With the pitches in England unusually flat – 300-plus scores are now par for the course as we saw in their preparatory series last week against Pakistan – and mostly small grounds in play, flexibility and a big heart will be critical match after match, which Shastri acknowledged.

“The gap between team is also very close. It’s a very strong competition. Our mantra is to be flexible in the last 10 overs. The pitches are going to be flat but overcast conditions will also have to be taken into consideration. It will vary from venue to venue, so you have to be prepared for that.”

So belt up for some fast and furious action. At the end, I expect England to be the last ones standing, but who knows? Sport is all about glorious undertainties – and solid preparation.

All the teams:

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, M.S. Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik (wk), K.L. Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja.

Afghanistan: Gulbadin Naib (capt), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), Steve Smith, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, *Kane Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Abu Jayed, Liton Das (wk), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun (wk), Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman,.

England: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jos Buttler (wk), Joe Root, Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid,

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), Tom Blundell (wk), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee.

Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt, wk), Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Wahab Riaz.

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), J.P. Duminy, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Chris Morris, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Rassie van der Dussen.

Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Jeffrey Vandersay, Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera (wk), Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Pradeep, Dhananjaya de Silva, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Isuru Udana, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga.

West Indies: Jason Holder (capt), Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Shai Hope (wk), Ashley Nurse, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas, Carlos Brathwaite.

Also read: ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 warm-up games live on Star Sports